


crystal glass

by polaroidexit



Series: look through me [1]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Bully Byun Baekhyun, Drama, Humor, M/M, Mild Language, POV Oh Sehun, Popular Byun Baekhyun, Slice of Life, Slow Build, Sweet Park Chanyeol, dance club, mentions of smoking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-19 19:39:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17607701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polaroidexit/pseuds/polaroidexit
Summary: "Nerd," Baekhyun says sardonically.





	1. 01

There's a part of Sehun that appreciates the fact that he and Baekhyun got sorted into the same math  _and_ gym class in his senior year of high school. First, it's nice that he's got a close friend he could talk to. Second…there's no second. Sehun will never admit it out loud because he's smart enough to keep his lips zipped, but Baekhyun's pretty annoying. And loud. And annoying. Did he mention annoying? Baekhyun can be  _really_ annoying from time to time but Sehun's nice enough to reserve a spot for his friend in his heart.

Currently, everyone's sneakily watching as the math teacher heads for the door and the moment the door closes—

"Fucking hell, I was about to fall asleep," Baekhyun complains out loud and everyone laughs along. Sehun glances around and sees that the majority has already taken out their phones and is going on social media to text or snap their friends, instead of using their class time wisely like the nerds in the corners are doing. Sehun's not really judging, to be honest. He's got nothing against nerds, unlike—

"Nerd," Baekhyun says sardonically, only loud enough for Sehun to hear since they chose to sit close to each other; Baekhyun giddily choosing the seat right behind him on the first day of classes. Sehun follows Baekhyun's disdainful gaze, which leads him to a tall, lanky guy that's currently working on the questions the teacher assigned them.

"You know him?" Sehun asks because he's got a hunch and he's usually right. Or half-right. Or a quarter-right. Doesn't matter, the point is that he's never wrong.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes in response and turns away from the view, his body facing Sehun now instead. "No."

Sehun hums and nods. Right.  _Nerds._

 

* * *

 

The next thing Sehun notices is during his gym class. They got Mr. Yoon as their P.E teacher and honestly, Yoon can go fuck himself in the as—

"Kyungsoo-ah! My sweet little egg!" Baekhyun shouts with exaggerated cheerfulness and literally bolts for the said person, who dodges him easily and lets out a little chuckle at the sight of Baekhyun being faced down ungracefully on the floor. Well done, Sehun wants to say. He silently gives a thumbs up toward Kyungsoo, who catches the movement and smirks.

"Alright, get in line, you lazy idiots! Enough horseplay!" Mr. Yoon says with his booming voice and Sehun's ears are about to fall off.

Sehun's never been the most athletic but he's rather one of those students who would definitely get an A if he tried but well, why waste energy in gym class when his time is being wasted already? To sum it up, he is indeed one of those lazy idiots. You would be correct if you say Mr. Yoon doesn't really seem fond of him at all.

Sehun's halfway through half-assedly shooting through hoops when Mr. Yoon blows the whistle and all attention's on him when Mr. Yoon yells at him to do a hundred pushups. He groans and flips Baekhyun off when he hears the bastard snicker before he trudges to the side of the gym, intentionally in a leisure manner ("Walk like a toddler again," Mr. Yoon warns, pointing at him with an irritated glare and then at the door that leads to the field. "Then you'll be doing laps in the rain.").

He's panting breathlessly and sweating by the time the class ends with the bell ringing his ears off. God, he doesn't deserve this discrimination, he thinks dramatically and continues to try to catch his breath. Kyungsoo uncharacteristically claps him on the back on his way out the door and Sehun feels a little better. (He still wants to snap Yoon's head off though.)

That's when he notices. He's waiting near the gym doors, staring as Baekhyun sneakily went up behind the tall, lanky guy that's in the same math class as them — Sehun never noticed him until now — and purposely bumps into him harshly while pretending to jog up to Sehun. He tries to hide his frown at the mean action. Baekhyun can really be a jerk sometimes.

The guy stands up straight again, wavering from the stumbling he did after he got bumped. Sehun takes one look at Baekhyun and doesn't bother to ask 'What was that all about?' because first, it's Baekhyun and second, it's  _Baekhyun_.

Sehun looks away from the 'nerd' guy before he can take pity upon him.

 

* * *

 

"Sehunnie, heard you got called out by Yoon again?" Jongdae immediately tries to go for the kill the second Sehun walks into the dance studio. He doesn't take the bait though, Jongdae's pretty stupid.

"You can't even manage a hundred pushups," Sehun quips back, not even bothering with the formality because stupid assholes don't deserve them at all. Jongdae splutters and tries to counterattack but Sehun is already tuning him out, walking over to dump his bag on one of the benches and looks up when Jongin sits down, already huffing and sweating; he must have skipped a class to come here early.

"You don't deserve such discrimination," Jongin says idly and takes a gulp of his water. Sehun raises his hands and tips his head back dramatically. " _Thank you_ , exactly. You're the best." Jongin already has his hand held out and he goes in to clasp it before pulling the other up to do a shoulder tap.

"Exactly, a person like me deserve so much more," Sehun says, shaking his head in an emphasized disapproving way, because thinking about the jerks in his life who are just unreasonably mean to him, just hurts.

"Quit bragging and start dancing, Sehun-ah," Minseok says fondly, appearing out of nowhere and claps him on the shoulder before heading over to the music player to start the songs.

 

* * *

 

"What's his name?" Baekhyun asks nonchalantly after a few days, gesturing toward the tall guy in their math class with a nod. Sehun is dumbfounded.

"You don't even know the name of your victim?" Sehun asks incredulously. Baekhyun scoffs and pretends to be offended. "Victim? Please, I'm not a bully," Baekhyun says as if it's obvious.

"You're exactly like a bully. You're  _the_ bully," Sehun deadpans, voice flat and stares unimpressed at the other, who twists his lips with annoyance crossing his face for a split second before he spits out the question again, "Just tell me his name."

Sehun holds out his hand. "I'm not doing something for  _free_. Who do you take me for?" Baekhyun's mouth drops open and he glares half-heartedly at him before he reaches in his bag and takes out a lollipop. Sehun raises an eyebrow. Baekhyun lets out a scoff and quickly slaps a ten-dollar-bill on his own desk, sliding it forward to Sehun. "Go buy your stupid bubble tea or something, you-you stingy…dingus."

Baekhyun flushes red right after because that really wasn't the best.

"Park Chanyeol."

"Huh?" Baekhyun says dumbly.

"Park. Chanyeol. Your poor victim. You evil  _dingus_ ," Sehun teases smugly.


	2. 02

Baekhyun smokes.

Sehun doesn't mind, to be honest. He's not a smoker himself either, he just thinks that it's ridiculous how some people go out of their way to avoid smokers or traunters. He personally thinks it's fine as long as the said person's got a good personality, Sehun wouldn't care about their smoking or skipping habits at all.

It's just that sometimes, Sehun thinks all the chemicals have melted Baekhyun's brain away. That's what he really suspects sometimes; for instance, he's getting that impression from his friend  _right now_.

Baekhyun just got back from his 'bathroom break', which uh,  _no_ — he definitely left for a smoke. Sehun doesn't have to check, the fact that Baekhyun's chewing gum is evidence enough. But really, Sehun suspects Baekhyun's brain has been melted or somehow, imploded.

The math teacher is gone, Sehun admits that the man doesn't put any effort into teaching in the slightest, so the absence really didn't matter at this point. Well, it does for those who need their feed of idiotic snaps to  _breathe_ , but seriously, why even come to class when all you're waiting for is for the teacher to be out of sight?

So anyways, Baekhyun comes back and voluntarily walks up to the nerd guy — Chanyeol — despite how he clearly despises him, considering how he rants and mutters explicit insults toward the lanky guy. (And Sehun has to listen to that every day. He's surprised his ears haven't snapped themselves off and ran away yet.)

"Chanyeol!" Sehun hears Baekhyun greet, hearing the distinct forced cheerfulness to his tone that Sehun knows very well. He watches as Chanyeol jumps at the sudden approach and turns his head to meet Baekhyun's smile (that's tainted with every evilness ever). "U-Uh, h-hi—" The poor guy didn't even get to finish his sentence when Baekhyun interrupts him with a pressuring, common question every bitch has ever asked, "Can I take a picture of that?" Baekhyun gestures to the finished homework in front of Chanyeol.

Sehun sighs inaudibly and resists the urge to hit someone's head when Chanyeol obediently nods and basically lets Baekhyun copy off his hard work.

Sehun stares as Baekhyun comes back to his own desk and remains tight-lipped when Baekhyun meets his eyes and raises his eyebrows too innocently. "You're…" 'Stupid.' 'Unbelievable.' 'Smart enough to solve the questions yourself.' 'Lazy as fuck.' Sehun doesn't know what to say or more specifically, which one to say, so he trails off.

"Hmm, what?" Baekhyun asks and he genuinely looks confused by Sehun's reaction. Maybe it's because Sehun never commented on his actions before, either that or he's just that good of an actor; Sehun isn't sure. So instead he asks, "Are my answers not satisfactory enough for you to copy?"

He feels smug with himself when Baekhyun sputters for a split second before he covers it up with a glare and a roll of his eyes. Perhaps all the smoke did melt Baekhyun's brain.

 

* * *

 

Baekhyun still 'accidentally' bumps into Chanyeol in gym class, not every day but often enough that most people would doubt the excuse of it being an accident and accuse of it being a constant torment. Not Chanyeol though. Sehun realizes he doesn't exactly like the guy; he's naive, way too innocent and might even be the densest person in the whole fucking world. Sehun doesn't really like Park Chanyeol, but what he really doesn't get is how Baekhyun reacts to the guy.

He just doesn't understand why Baekhyun goes out of his way to pick on the poor guy who's completely oblivious to all the bullying; he just can't seem to wrap his head around it, he doesn't see what his friend can possibly get out of this or the point of his actions. Just like now.

Baekhyun is extra harsh today, Sehun guesses that he woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, but nothing would ever explain and comprehend the deep layers — the entirety of the enigmatic Byun Baekhyun. Sehun watches as his friend kick Chanyeol by the ankle and — and what's worse these days is the fact that Baekhyun would  _apologize_.

Anyone can tell he's not sincere, well, except Chanyeol but that's a whole nother story.

"Sorry, Chanyeol!" Baekhyun says, putting on his apologetic face, all fake and not remorseful at all. It's full of  _Baekhyun_ if that makes any sense.

But.

 _But_.

What actually pisses Sehun off in all of this is that Chanyeol would  _believe_ it and wave it off with that stupid grin of his. Like, have some fucking common sense. Someone's bullying you and your skull is way too thick, Sehun kind of wants to rebuke at the stupid lanky stick, but he doesn't. Because there are invisible lines, all the unspoken rules written out before Sehun — no, for anyone that's smart enough to keep their mouth shut and have their reputation safe and sound.

It's not like the 'lines' are stopping Sehun either, he's not controlled by some fear like most bystanders are. He considers the possible consequences and outcomes of all the actions he could take, and he decides for himself that he's not going to voluntarily get involved in some tiny matter that can turn into troublesome drama in a matter of second.

 

* * *

 

Some time in early October, just a few weeks into Sehun's observation of Baekhyun and Chanyeol, witnessing of how 'Baekhyun personally harassing the 'nerd' guy from math class' developed to 'Baekhyun personally harassing Park Chanyeol', other people have noticed the exchange of the two as well. (Ha, exchange. Maybe one-sided hate would be a more suitable word.)

By other people, Sehun really means Kyungsoo because 1) It's Kyungsoo, 2) Kyungsoo may be the most intimidating person in the whole school, 3) Kyungsoo can literally beat the crap out of anyone, and 4) It's  _Kyungsoo_. To sum it up, Do Kyungsoo is the only person ~~scary~~ important enough to be on Sehun's radar.

So. Kyungsoo notices and of course goes to Baekhyun's closest friend out of the vast majority of the school's population because Baekhyun is one of those sociable people that manages to be friends with everyone. (Some people say Sehun is the exact same but Sehun begs to differ.) That friend, by the way, is him.

Sehun tenses and desperately tries not to show it when Kyungsoo sits down beside him during lunch one day. He takes in the other's expression, the natural glare, the blank look he always has on, and the way his intense eyes are currently trained on Baekhyun, who's across the cafeteria and chatting away with another student who's called Taehyung if Sehun remembers correctly. From what he's heard, the Taehyung guy is equally as obnoxious as Baekhyun.

"What is Byun's deal lately?" Kyungsoo gets straight to the point; doesn't beat around the bush. Sehun instantly catches on and knows what the other's getting at; it's simple yet difficult to answer. 

"Don't know, really don't know this time," Sehun can only say. Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow and his lips twitch a little. "Meaning you knew the other times?"

Sehun deflates because God, it's true. For the life of him, he just can't figure out Baekhyun and what could possibly be going on in his friend's messy head. For example, Baekhyun is no longer chatting but assaulting Taehyung with fries and chicken strips and all kinds of food his hand manages to reach next. The two are definitely going to get caught and given detention. For example,  _that_ , Sehun really doesn't get but y'know, it doesn't mean he's not used to it because Baekhyun's daily randomness has become a part of his life now.

"Know that guy from middle school," Kyungsoo suddenly says and Sehun looks away from the scene with bemusement because, wait…

"Chanyeol?" He checks for confirmation. Kyungsoo hums back affirmatively. Sehun is taken aback by this new piece of information.

"Has he always been that stupid?" He blurts out and he freezes when Kyungsoo meets his eyes with an unreadable expression. If he gets murdered on the spot, there will be witnesses, hundreds of them and please, no one's dumb enough to kill someone in the middle of a crowded cafeteria, right—

"I personally think the whole thing's just sexual tension," Kyungsoo says bluntly as if nothing happened — half of him thinks the other's dodging the question — and Sehun blinks.

 

* * *

 

When Baekhyun texts him about the homework answers that night, Sehun decides to tease the other a bit.

_Byunee 'ㅅ' : hw_

_Ur Senshine: you didn't get it from chanyeol today?_

He snorts when the other pointedly doesn't reply. He knew that Baekhyun didn't ~~peer pressure the hell out of~~  ask Chanyeol today and for all he knows, Baekhyun doesn't have Chanyeol's contact information either. He still gets his bit of fun out of this though.

He realizes he's way too soft for Baekhyun when he relents and sends Baekhyun the answers for the assigned workbook pages.


	3. 03

"It's just a few bucks, Chanyeol," Baekhyun persists from where he and a few other fellow seniors, whose faces Sehun are kind of familiar with, are blocking and basically trapping Chanyeol in a tight circle by one of the darker, hidden corners of the cafeteria. Sehun glances around to check if anyone else is witnessing this and realizes that, no, everyone else is just in their world and minding their own business.

"We forgot to bring money today and we haven't even had breakfast yet," Another senior speaks up (a lie), a smirk indiscreetly appearing underneath his feigning dispirited eyes. "Yeah, I'm starving," Another guy comments offhandedly (lies, lies, lies) and Sehun can almost feel the panic and anxiousness buzzing out of Chanyeol.

Sehun is distracted when he catches a sudden movement out of the corner of his eye and widens his eyes when he sees that it's Kyungsoo — Sehun can't believe he didn't notice the other sitting close to him before — who's starting to get up from his seat with  _murderous_ eyes and is about to storm over to the seniors when Sehun urgently grabs him by the wrist in a tight grip.

Kyungsoo immediately redirects his dark gaze onto him, but Sehun holds on with his racing heartbeat pounding by his ears. "Don't, you'll—" Sehun cuts himself off because what is he supposed to say? That Kyungsoo shouldn't head over there and possibly beat them all up? That Kyungsoo shouldn't involve himself in something like this?

The thing is, Sehun actually likes Kyungsoo. He doesn't  _tolerate_ Kyungsoo, he sees the other as an actual friend and he's pretty sure the feeling's mutual. That's why he's  _scared_.

Because no matter how threatening Kyungsoo's entire existence may be, Sehun doubts the other would be able to survive the power of gossip and social media. When people say Baekhyun is friends with everyone, he's literally connected with almost everyone in their school; he has about 70% of _each_ school's population in their district as his followers on Instagram. Plus the closer ones added on KakaoTalk. And Sehun knows Baekhyun well enough — he knows him the most, to confirm that Baekhyun isn't afraid to use the power of mass.

And Sehun doesn't want to lose Kyungsoo because he's honestly a good friend, compared to the unreliable ones whom he considers as a mere acquaintance instead and really, everybody needs at least one true friend in life, in order to remain sane amongst the chaos.

He snaps out of his muddy thoughts when Kyungsoo twists his wrist out of his hand rather effortlessly and leans in with a death glare. 

"Maybe you should stop being a bystander then," Kyungsoo snarls, as if the whole mess is  _Sehun_ 's fault because it isn't, it is not, _it is not—_

He swallows and ignores the lump in his throat when he watches as Kyungsoo storms out of the crowded cafeteria that's way too noisy, all the voices too sharp and hollow in Sehun's ears and twirling mind. By the time he looks back at the spot where Chanyeol was cornered by Baekhyun and his little gang, the tall nerd is gone as well as Baekhyun. A few of the seniors remaining are snickering at the extra money, earned with their shitty lies, all crunched up and quickly shoved into their pockets.

Sehun looks away. They're probably gonna buy cigarettes with that.

 

* * *

 

Sehun almost files a missing person report during lunch when he covers the areas Baekhyun is seen at regularly and still no sign of Byun Baekhyun. In the end, he's already spent half of lunch and finally finds the said person in a classroom, all laid-back and drinking banana milk by one of the windows that give them a view of the basketball court. Sehun approaches his friend and draws his eyes away from Baekhyun to follow the other's gaze to…

Chanyeol currently being picked on by the group of seniors and also juniors, Sehun realizes, that often spends their time playing a few games in the court. "What do…" What do you see in him, Sehun almost asks but he saves himself from an awkward and dangerous road because first, it sounds like a question more suited for someone pining pathetically over someone else and second, it would  _also_ make Sehun seem like one of those jealous bitches, whether it be platonic or romantic.

"What's the point of this?" He changes the question and looks over when no answers come from Baekhyun, who is sipping on his banana milk leisurely instead. "Point of what?" Baekhyun is trying to avoid it, he can tell that for sure.

"Why do you so insistent on him being your daily target?" Sehun attempts to sugarcoat it by asking it in a ridiculous wordy manner. Baekhyun blinks slowly and his head slowly turns around from the window to face him with a blank look. "He's a nerd," Baekhyun says nonchalantly.

"That's not the reason," Sehun retorts instantly, surprising himself in the process. Baekhyun lets out an exasperated sigh and leans his head back.

Then the true colours start to seep in.

The corners of Baekhyun's lips curl up in a sinister way (almost sickening) before he lets out a chuckle, startling Sehun with the sudden change in the air. "He's like a puppy," Baekhyun begins with a grin that looks too sweet and joyful for something like this. "Easy to manipulate," Baekhyun says lightly, eyes curving into smooth crescents.

Sehun doesn't say anything more.

 

* * *

 

Sehun hates rainy days, because not only is the weather freezing but when you just happen to forget your umbrella at home that day, you have a pretty high chance of getting soaked and all uncomfortable with the clothing sticking to your cold skin. And plus the fact that Sehun lives alone instead of with his family or a roommate, no one is able to pick him up and thus, his  _only_ option is to trudge to the bus stop in the pouring rain, his fingers numb and his skin all prickly with gross wetness.

He's panting and his nose has this stinging sensation everyone gets whenever the weather gets too cold and it just  _sucks_.

Good thing there's only like two people — the nice part of being a dance club member and attending the after-school practices — at the bus stop that gets to witness this pathetic sight of him. He sighs and decides to sit down after he takes a look at the time on his phone and realizes he's still got a solid 20 minutes before his bus arrives.

He looks up when one of the two people suddenly swears dramatically loud and Sehun rolls his eyes at the attention-seeking action. For a second, his mind goes back to his circle of fellow seniors. Then Baekhyun and he just can't help but wonder when it went off the rails for his friend. Baekhyun's always been a boisterous troublemaker but he's never been so much of an asshole before as he is now to Chanyeol.

"—Later, Tao," One of the guys says and leaves — Sehun frowns because the guy has a hoodie, his dumbass self should've chosen to wear a hoodie today, because then at least he could've avoided getting his hair all wet. If only he had common sense and awareness of his surroundings at the moment but everyone knows a somnolent Oh Sehun is a 'hollow, soggy baguette,' courtesy of Kim Jongdae.

His gaze falls back onto the other guy — Tao — and squints his eyes when he recognizes the rather familiar face as one of the seniors that partook in taking away Chanyeol's money earlier today. The guy's face is pretty distinct, with the dark lower eyelids and the contrast between his dark skin and dirty-yellow hair.

Though the recognition doesn't stretch to Sehun's memories of the last three years; freshman, sophomore or junior so Sehun's gonna guess the guy is either an international student or transferred over for his senior year. The latter is less likely since most people would like to stick to the norm and graduate with their friends instead of strangers.

Sehun's hand twitches when the guy takes out a full pack of cigarettes and moves back under the bus stop shelter to light up one.

_"It's just a few bucks, Chanyeol."_

_"We forgot to bring money today and we haven't even had breakfast yet."_

_"Yeah, I'm starving."_

Something delicate and already-battered inside of Sehun snaps. "Aren't you ashamed?" He blurts out with a hint of anger in his voice, breaking the heavy silence and the ringing pitter-patter echoes louder and the layers up in Sehun's ears, fuzzy and smudging his mind. He uses everything in him to hold the glare he's sporting when Tao turns around with hooded eyes and really, a bitch face.

However, the other's expression instantly changes from a look of fixed intimidation to some sort of apprehension and perhaps, even acknowledge swimming through those dark eyes. Sehun presumes Tao must recognize him since they  _do_ have Baekhyun as a mutual friend.

That doesn't stop Tao from having enough shamelessness and no hesitation at all, whatsoever, in giving him a shit-eating smirk and judgemental eyes.

"Why would I be?" Tao mocks and gestures to the smoke in his hand as he continues on, tone smooth yet sharp with cruelness, "When he's only this much of use to me?"

Sehun physically bites on his tongue and seriously considers punching the guy, though that wouldn't be good and there are bound to be witnesses around to have an evidence photo or some shit, so he takes a deep breath just as Tao lets out a condescending snort in response to his lack of retort.

Thankfully, the guy's bus arrives so Sehun is left all by himself as he waits for his bus, brooding silently on a rainy November day.

 

* * *

 

"I'm home," Sehun mumbles even though the days of him going back home to have the cozy warmth of his family are long gone. It's kind of self-deprecating in a sense or maybe it's just another one of his weird habits. Vivi must've gained some kind of intellectual, philosophical hearing or empathic abilities and somehow hears or feels Sehun drowning in his restless, bleak thoughts because the little guy just comes running over to Sehun, greeting with loud yelps.

"Hey, Vivi," Sehun scratches and basks in the warm fur of his dog because it's really been a shitty day. Vivi isn't one to complain, of course; he's rolling around on the floor and God, the pure existence of a dog cheers Sehun up in less than a second. He's a simple man like that.

He can't help but smile like an idiot when he gets Vivi's special snack out and watches as the sassiest dog on Earth uses his unlimited attempts to entertain his owner, who's embracing in this one piece of small happiness in his life.

Vivi yelps again and he pants as he jumps around for the dog snack, the sounds vibrating into Sehun's bones, causing an eerie shiver to travel down his spine with goosebumps all raised up.

_"He's like a puppy."_

His mind flashes back to Baekhyun intentionally tripping Chanyeol during gym class and Chanyeol's stupid grin (it might be the stupidest grin in the world). The bright smile the nerd always has on is practically ingrained into his eyes, and it really doesn't help when the naive doe eyes are so similar to Vivi's shining, energetic ones.

_"Easy to manipulate."_

A sudden jolt of pain goes through his palm and down his arm. Sehun hisses in pain as he accesses the deep scratch Vivi had managed to create when he leaped for the cookie in his hand. It hurts.

 

* * *

 

Sehun can't help the clattering of his teeth or shivering of his body when he's already gotten inside the school building, body still suffering from the freezing air. It's been getting colder lately, just two weeks away from December and Sehun can see his white breath in the early mornings he walks up the slope to school.

A figure comes up beside him when he's opening his locker and arranging the books around to prepare for another boring day. "Hey," Jongin greets and Sehun takes notice of his slightly glum expression; the solemn, dark eyes and tight lip.

"Did you hear about that Park Chanyeol guy?" Jongin begins and Sehun tenses, sucking in a sharp breath as he pauses with his bag and books. "What?" He asks curtly even though he doesn't want to find out. Dread is already starting to sink in and settle in his gut and Sehun hopes the news isn't going to raise any nausea.

"I think he's in the same math class as you? Baekhyun's been picking on this guy for a while now. So apparently—oh, there he is."

Sehun snaps his head up to find a sight that fills his heart with horror and bile to his throat.

There Chanyeol is, walking down the hallway with an ugly, purple bruise across his entire right cheek. Sehun's scratched palm is throbbing painfully from where he is gripping his locker door tightly.

_"He's like a puppy."_


End file.
